The outcomes of Tuesday's local elections began to pour in overnight into Wednesday and continued into the morning, revealing significant upsets in some areas. Veteran leaders were unseated, while others retained their positions, and several localities are poised for runoff elections.
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In Tel Aviv, Mayor Ron Huldai has successfully retained his seat, defeating former economy minister Orna Barbivai in a heated contest. Winning his sixth consecutive term with 50.65% of the vote, Huldai is on track to complete three decades at the helm of the coastal financial hub.
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Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and former economy minister Orna Barbivai
(Photo: Tal Shahar)
Meanwhile, Haifa, Israel's third-most populated city, is set for a runoff election. However, the outgoing mayor, Einat Kalisch-Rotem, will not appear on the ballot after securing a measly 4.5% of the vote.
With 98% of votes counted, former Mayor Yona Yahav and David Etzioni have received 36.2% and 21.9% of the votes, respectively, and will compete directly in the second round.
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David Etzioni, outgoing Haifa Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem and Yona Yahav
(Photo: Elad Malka, Reuven Cohen/Haifa city hall, Elad Gershgorn)
In the capital, Mayor Moshe Lion clinched his second term with a landslide victory, garnering 81.5% of the vote compared to his deputy Yosi Havilio's 18.5%.
Humorously addressing his supporters at the entrance to his election headquarters in the city's International Convention Center, he said, "It appears I have won another term."
And moving to the capital of the Negev in southern Israel, Be'er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich, who ran unopposed, received 96.6% of the vote, with about a quarter of the votes counted. 3.4% of voters cast their ballots against him.
In central Israel, Holon is set for a mayoral change after over three decades. Shai Keinan unseated Moti Sasson with 43.3% of the votes, based on 98.9% of ballots counted. Moran Israel garnered 27.2% of the vote and the long-standing mayor received just 17.8% of the vote. Speaking to Ynet, Sasson expressed his disappointment: "After 30 years, I was surprised."
According to Interior Ministry data, excluding absentee ballots, voter turnout in Bnei Brak was 66.2%, in Ashdod 45.6% of residents voted, in Tel Aviv-Yafo 40.5%, in Haifa 39.1%, in Be'er Sheva 36.8%, in Rishon LeZion 35.1%, and in Jerusalem, only 31.4% of residents exercised their democratic right.
The data also shows that in Netivot, the voting rate stood at 61.7%, Safed 58.6%, Afula 53.2%, Tiberias 52.8%, Dimona 50.5%, Nof HaGalil 49.5%, Holon 43.2% and Eilat 37.2%.
The highest voter turnout was in Ein Mahel near Nazareth – 93.4%. High voter turnouts were also recorded in Bu'eine Nujeidat – 92.8%, Kfar Manda 92.3%, Deir Hanna 90.3%, Kfar Bara 90.2%, Daliyat al-Karmel 90% and Sajur 89.5%.
Especially low voter turnouts, according to the ministry, were noted in Mateh Asher 20.6% (some residents were evacuated from their homes near the Lebanon border), Emek Hefer 20.9%, Hof HaSharon 23.3%, Jerusalem 31.4% and Majdal Shams 34.3%.